Simon Russell Beale has been described by The Independent as "the greatest stage actor of his generation." He worked extensively with the RSC early on his career, going on to collaborate frequently with director Sam Mendes. Since then he has received many awards for his work on the London stage, and has starred in many successful films and television series.

Amy Rutherford is a Canadian playwright and actress. Her plays include Mortified, The Public Servant and Out of the Woods.

John Rwothomack is a Ugandan-born, UK-based actor, writer and theatre director.

He trained as an actor at Rose Bruford College of Performing Arts, London.

His plays include Far Gone (Kampala International Theatre Festival, 2019; Sheffield Theatres, 2022).

Sara Ryan is a Professor of Social Care at Manchester Metropolitan University. She is the author of Justice for Laughing Boy: Connor Sparrowhawk - A Death by Indifference, about the death of her autistic son Connor while in an NHS care unit.

Mark Rylance is one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation. He has played many of the great Shakespearean roles, both for the Royal Shakespeare Company and as Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe (1996-2006).

He has won numerous awards for roles in London and on Broadway, most famously in Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem, in which he created the role of Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies (2015), and played the part of the BFG in Spielberg's film adaptation of Roald Dahl's book. On television he played Thomas Cromwell in the BBC's acclaimed dramatisation of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, directed by Peter Kosminsky.

As a writer, his plays include I Am Shakespeare (Chichester Festival Theatre, 2007) and Nice Fish (co-written with Louis Jenkins; Guthrie Theater, US, 2013; New York and West End, 2016).

Mark Rylance was knighted in the 2017 New Year honours list.

Photo by Simon Annand